Extremist group demanding governors’ resignations

The FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have advised Gov. Chet Culver that an “identified sovereign citizens’ extremist group” is sending letters to the nation’s governors demanding their resignations.

FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault in Omaha said Thursday the advisory was issued to Culver on Wednesday. Authorities are asking law enforcement agencies to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activities, she added.

“Sovereign citizens extremists are individuals who reject all forms of government authority and believe they are emancipated from the responsibilities with being a U.S. citizen. These extremists advocate for their views through the use, support, and facilitation of violence or other illegal conduct,” the advisory said.

Authorities are not aware of any imminent threat of violence against the nation’s governors, Breault said.

Culver’s personal security is provided by an executive detail of the Iowa State Patrol. State Patrol Capt. Curt Henderson said in an e-mail Thursday that because of the nature of the case and the security issues involved, the investigation was being conducted by the FBI.

“The Iowa State Patrol will not be releasing any information pertaining to the letter or the investigation,” Henderson said.

At the Nevada Capitol in Carson City, additional security measures were installed this week in response to the sovereign citizens’ advisory. A metal detector and X-ray machines were placed at the building’s main entrance, and other entrances were closed. The letter reportedly tells governors to resign and take an oath to a new order, according to news reports.

Access is already restricted at the Iowa Capitol with metal detectors and security staff screening visitors at all entrances.

Booth Gunter, a spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based organization that monitors extremist groups, said Thursday the sovereign citizens’ letters appear to be part of a trend “in an explosion in extremism on the far right.” This ranges from people throwing bricks through Democratic offices to a tax protester flying a plane into an Internal Revenue Service building in Austin, Texas, he said.

“It is certainly concerning when you have these fringe groups acting out like this. Where are they going to go next, I guess?” Gunter asked.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the sovereign citizen movement is a loosely organized collection of groups and individuals who have adopted a right-wing anarchist ideology originating in the theories of a group called the Posse Comitatus in the 1970s. One adherent of this movement was Terry Nichols, an accomplice of Timothy McVeigh, who was executed for the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.